Monthly Archives: May 2013

Shamanic healing is one of the vast numbers of healing modalities available for us to experience today. Like acupuncture, its roots are in the mists of time and like acupuncture it works with unseen energy. Acupuncture is usually associated with the East, while there have been shamanic healers for thousands of years in tribal communities all around the world.

Is this something that can help me with today’s problems?

There are also many contemporary practitioners of this ancient healing art.
Traditionally a shaman was someone who was able to communicate with the spirits and visit other realities with their own spirit allies. This is still the case in modern shamanism.

How does it work ?

A shamanic practitioner will use a drum or rattle to access an altered state of consciousness. In this altered state she is able to enter the lower world, the middle world or the upper world which are the unseen other realities. Here in the other worlds she journeys with her power animal and helpers to ask for healing for whoever has requested her services.

What does a shamanic healer see as the cause of life’s difficulties and challenges?

Shamanic healing is about energy, and typically the shamanic practitioner sees lack of health and well being on any level as being about loss of energy in some form.

Can you explain more about Soul Loss?

Trauma, stress, abuse and serious accident at any time in one’s life can result in loss of life force, vital energy or essence which is known as ‘soul loss’.

In order to survive seriously challenging situations a soul part leaves the individual and takes refuge in one of the other worlds, taking with it some of the life force. It does this to assist overall survival.

However, it often results in depression, apathy, inability to move on after a loss or death or problems with the immune system. It is the job of the shamanic healer to track down this soul part in the other worlds, to offer it healing and reassurance and to invite it to return and bring back its positive qualities.

This is known as ‘soul retrieval’

And what about Power Loss?

Another issue addressed by the modern day shamanic healer is that of ‘power loss.’

Power loss is widespread and may be caused by confrontation, exams ill health, unrelenting problems, lack of community support, erosion of self- esteem, stressful family circumstances or manipulative relationships. Without our inherent vitality and connection to the cosmic web we become dis-empowered, dejected and dispirited. The shamanic solution is for the healer to journey to the lower world to retrieve the individual’s power animal. Power then returns along with the ability to approach life more confidently and deal with the challenges it presents.

The ancient practice of shamanic healing is alive and well and is very useful for an individual who recognizes any of the symptoms referred to. It can support therapy or counseling when it feels as if an impasse has been reached. It is also useful for a personal development coach to have a shamanic practitioner on their referral list as a individually tailored shamanic sessions to retrieve soul parts and/or a power animal will give the individual more energy and incentive to design and work towards life goals.

Evolving GenerationsBreaking Family Cycles

It is easy to believe that in leaving our childhood homes and embarking upon the journey of adulthood, we have effectively removed ourselves from harmful and self-perpetuating familial patterns. In looking closely at ourselves, however, we may discover that our behaviours and beliefs are still those that were impressed upon us during our youth by our parents, grandparents, and the generations that preceded them.

We may find ourselves unconsciously perpetuating cycles of the previous generations, such as fear of not having enough, not showing affection, and secrecy patterns. Yet the transmission of negative patterns from one generation to the next is not inevitable. It is possible to become the endpoint at which negative family cycles that have thrived for generations are exhausted and can exert their influence no longer.

Breaking the pattern is a matter of overcoming those values imprinted upon us long ago in order to replace them with pure love, tolerance, and conscious awareness.

Even if you have struggled with the cumulative effects of family cycles that were an expression of established ways of living and a reflection of the strife your ancestors were forced to endure, you can still liberate yourself from the effects of your family history. The will to divest yourself of old, dark forms of familial energy and carry forth a new loving energy may come in the form of an epiphany. You may one day simply realize that certain aspects of your early life have negatively affected your health, happiness, and ability to evolve as an individual. Or you may find that in order to transcend long-standing patterns of limiting beliefs, irrational behavior, and emotional stiltedness, you have to question your values and earnestly examine how your family has impacted your personality. Only when you understand how family cycles have influenced you can you gain freedom from those cycles.

To truly change, you must give yourself permission to change. Breaking family patterns is not an act of defiance or betrayal. It is important that you trust yourself implicitly when determining the behaviors and beliefs that will help you overwrite the generation-based cyclical value system that limited your individual potential. Many people are on the earth at this time to break family cycles, for all of you are true pioneers. In breaking negative family cycles, you will discover that your ability to express your feelings and needs grows and that you will embark upon a journey toward greater well-being that can positively impact generations to come.

Shamanic healing is one way to address this.

“The deeds of an ancestor can create family karma that continues to influence the fate of the family’s descendants until the karma is dissolved.”